“All the time?” she wondered aloud, screwing up her face as she thought of that. If there were many of his kind, how had she never heard of them? Indeed, she had never left the Wilds, but her soul was so in contact with wolves that she was surprised she had never encountered them in the Fade, and that the spirits had not revealed their existence to her. “I have never heard of beings such as you. None that are born that way, in any case.” She paused and thought a moment. “How can you be born as a wolf, but have the form of a man as well?” she asked rhetorically.
The fact that he had never heard of Flemeth baffled Aedre. She knew the legends so well that she could not fathom this lack of knowledge. The young woman’s fear did not relent just yet, but she felt a small bit of calm come over her at his words. She had no definite assurance that he was not lying, but as she considered it, Garrett had not been a threat to her yet. And if he became a threat, it was not as if she was useless without a simple knife. In fact, she was probably better off without it.
As she weighed her options and finally released the werewolf from her grip, Aedre considered her other encounters with wolves in the past. They had never worked out like this. She had never negotiated with one before. Perhaps this was a turning point in her life. Putting superstition aside, when she retired into the Fade that night, she expected to see quite a different world than the one she had interacted with since her fifth birthday. This encounter could just be the ultimate turning point in her life and training. Maybe Garrett was sent to her as a message from her spirit guide. If so, she would not do well to horribly offend the creature in front of her.
Sheathing her knife, Aedre stepped back from the nude shapeshifter and let out a breath. “I am sorry,” she said, hoping that he would turn and accept her apology. An apology was truly all that she could offer, though she wished she could give more. She was still on her guard, however, remembering her many experiences with creatures that resembled Garrett’s other form. “I had to be sure that you were not a threat, or associated with Flemeth." She hoped that he could understand her reasoning. "While I am used to wolves setting off my traps, I am not accustomed to watching them change to humans and dismantle them. In the Wilds, shapeshifters do not have the greatest reputation. I am sure you can imagine my surprise.”